Case of Love
by Jar of Sporks
Summary: Max has never cared too much about her mom's murder cases.  So why would she care when Mom brings home Fang, a guy her age who happens to be related to the latest case her mom is working on?  Still, Max finds herself intrigued by the case...and Fang.  AH.
1. Chapter 1

_Off on another case. Remember to __lock__ the doors and if any real trouble arises, you know where the gun is. Order out if we come home late-the money is hidden in the jam jar. Have a nice day at school, 'kay Max?_

_Love,_

_Mom._

_(P.S. Don't think about ditching again)_

I sighed as I stared at yet another sticky note Mom had posted on the oven door in the kitchen. Then I turned around, opened the refrigerator, which was mostly filled with boxes of leftovers from the delivered Chinese food I've been ordering lately, and searched through it for a carton of milk.

Yep. That's how the awesome sixteen- year-old Max Martinez's (AKA me) everyday life starts: wake up, find out from a note taped onto some kitchen appliance that my Mom, otherwise known as Detective Valencia Martinez has ran off to another crime scene, and get on with the rest of my day.

Once finding the milk, I filled a bowl with cereal and poured it in. As I was munching on my oh- so elegant breakfast, the front door opened and in came Iggy.

There's not a whole lot to say about Iggy. He's kind of perverted, he loves bombs, he's my age, and he's my neighbor. And that's about it. We're pretty close; kind of like brother and sister, now that I think about it.

"'Sup Max," Iggy said as he pocketed the piece of wire he used to unlock the door into the house.

"Hey Iggy," I said through a mouthful of cereal, while flipping through old stacks of newspaper to find the comics.

"Mom out fighting crime again?" Iggy asked as he saw the bright pink note stuck to the oven.

"Yep. She-"

"Iggy! Iggy!" a voice shouted from outside, interrupting me. The voice was then followed by the doorbell of my house ringing repeatedly.

"Gazzy?" Iggy called as he went to get the door. Gazzy was Iggy's ten- year old brother, who I swear is like Iggy's version of Mini- Me. It was kind of cute the way he idolized Iggy… Moments later, the two of them made their way into the kitchen with Gazzy holding an armful of metal and wires.

"Okay, so was the yellow wire supposed to go here or through that tube?" Gazzy asked, holding up said wire.

"No, no, no." Iggy said, "See, you mixed some wires up. The red wire should be connected to here and…" Iggy trailed off as he became concentrated on fixing what I figured out was another bomb he and Gazzy were making.

"Hey guys, no bomb- making in the house, remember? Last time you almost blew this place up…" I reminded them.

"Aw, Max…" Gazzy whined.

"Relax, Max. This one isn't as dangerous- it has a timer, see? It won't go off until you set the time." Iggy said, holding up the now- completed weapon.

"Is that my Mickey Mouse clock I see taped to it? I've been looking for that for weeks!" I shrieked as I saw the beloved item stuck right in the heart of the bomb.

"Oh, is it?" Iggy asked with a mask of fake surprised.

"Iggy!"

"Fine, if you love the clock so much, then take the bomb. You know, for safety purposes…" Iggy said resignedly.

"Don't worry, I started another one at home," Iggy said, winking at Gazzy.

"Man, you guys and your bombs," I muttered, rolling my eyes good-naturedly as I placed the safety bomb under the kitchen sink.

"But that's why you love us," Gazzy sang as he went on his way back to his and Iggy's house next door in search of the _other_ bomb Iggy had mentioned to him.

"Come on, we should be getting to school now," Iggy said as he shouldered his bag.

"Woo! Another day at Itex High," I muttered sarcastically as I began gathering my books, "Please, I'd rather get run over by a pack of demonic unicorns."

"Tell me about it," Iggy sighed as we went on our way.

Later that night was spent in my room with me trying to focus on some novel that my friend JJ made me promise that I would read, but so far, just attempting to get through the first chapter was agonizing. I mean, seriously, a _supernatural love_ novel? Not that I have anything against them, but to me, they're pretty much the same nowadays: the main character is some sobbing weenie and in the end, somebody who's beyond sexy has to go and rescue said main character. The end.

Just as I was thinking about searching up a detailed summary of the entire book so I wouldn't have to read the entire thing, I saw a dark cruiser roar up in front of the house.

Looks like Mom's home early.

I guess it's about time for me to tell you all about the history of the Martinez family. My dad skipped out on Mom and I when I was little, so now it's just the two of us. Except now I'm not so sure it's really the two of us anymore. Ever since my "dad" charged off, Mom was left quite heartbroken. Now she copes with that grief by putting all she has into her work as a detective. Don't get me wrong, though. She still is an awesome person and makes the _best_ chocolate chip cookies, might I add.

Anyways, back to the present.

As I was climbing down the stairs to greet Mom, the front door opened to reveal Mom and Jeb Batchelder, a detective as well as my mom's associate, helping a guy about my age into the house.

I stopped my descent on the stairs, watching intensely. Who was this guy?

He was fairly tall, with a mess of ebony hair that sort of fell over his eyes, which were a deep midnight color, as far as I can tell. His olive- toned skin looked pale, as though he just came out from a hospital or something (which would explain the gauze around his arm) and though his face was rather expressionless, there was something about him that made him seem haunted and a little paranoid somehow.

"All right, take it easy Fang. You're still a little banged- up," Jeb said to the guy (AKA "Fang") as he led Fang to the living room.

"Max! Good, you're still up! How was school today?" Mom smiled tiredly at me as I finally made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Fine," I said. Then, in a lower voice, I whispered, "Who's that?" I tilted my head towards the living room where Jeb was sitting with this Fang person.

In an equally low voice Mom said, "That's Nick. Nick Ride, though according to most of the people we've canvassed, he goes by Fang. Remember stick note number eighty- seven?"

I nodded, glancing at the bright pink note still stuck to the oven door that told me that Mom was "off on another case".

"Well, Fang is related to the murder case I was assigned to today. His parents were shot by a gun multiple times and were both stuffed into the fireplace inside their home. And Fang…he was almost dead too when we got to the scene. We found him trapped in the basement and he had gashes running all over him, and it was just awful, Max," Mom said, shaking her head as she recalled what she had seen.

"I bet it was," I murmured, thinking about how haunted I thought Fang seemed earlier.

"Um… so do you have any leads yet?" I asked.

"None so far. Fingerprints are still being ran through the system and we haven't interviewed anyone who might give us a hint at who the bastard is…" Mom sighed, running her fingers through her dark hair.

"So, Mom, why is Fang here?"

"Good question. You see, Fang doesn't have anywhere to go. All his relatives live in far off countries, and weren't too willing to take Fang in either. It seems that Fang's parents were pretty much the outcasts of the entire Ride family. Nobody really wanted to have anything to do with them, as we found out when we called one of his uncles. And besides, I think that since Fang was part of the crime scene, he may be the key to cracking this case wide open. So I proposed that Fang stay here for the time- being, which brings us to now," Mom finished.

Okay, then.

New person in the house?

I guess I could deal with that.

**A/N: I'm not too sure about this one… Any thoughts, anybody?**

**R**

**E**

**V**

**I**

**E**

**W**

**!**

**3**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Jeb," I said as Mom and I went into the living room where he and Fang still were. He glanced up from looking at the picture frames on our mantle, smiled, then waved at me.

Jeb's life was sort of like Mom's in a way. After his second marriage went awry, he was left to take care of his two kids, Angel and Ari. They were pretty friendly kids, Angel and Ari…except whenever they give you Bambi eyes. Bambi eyes are kind of like when you pass by an extremely cute forest creature, only to find that it could transform into a man- eating monster… Yeah, that might not be the best description I ever gave, but you guys get the idea.

Anyways, back to the time being.

I turned to Fang, who had been sitting silently on our couch the whole time, staring at the floor.

"Hi, I'm Max," I said, not really sure where to start. I mean, I couldn't just say '_Sorry your parents got murdered. Man, that's a pretty early mid-life crisis_', right?

Fang looked up at me.

"And you're Fang, am I correct?" I asked, trying to keep the awkward silence at bay.

He just sort of nodded, then looked away.

Mom chose this time to cut in. "Well, Fang, this isn't a five- star hotel or anything, but I hope you'll like staying here with us for a while. Anything you want or need, just ask. Oh, and I'm not sure if I mentioned this to you earlier, but I'm Valencia. Valencia Martinez, but you could call me Val or Detective Martinez, if you want. And over there is Detective Jeb Batchelder. Now, as for school, you're on an excused leave presently, but we'll sort those kinds of things out later, okay? Right. Max would you show Fang to the guest room? And Jeb, isn't it about time you should be getting back now? I'm sure Angel and Ari would be missing you."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Better go home and tell Mrs. Cheatham that she's done watching the kids for the night. Well, I just wanted to make sure everybody's all right here with the new arrangements. 'Night Val. Max. Fang," Jeb said. With that, he went out the door.

"Okay, so the bedroom is this way….so yeah," I told Fang. I started down the hall towards that guest room with him following me, silent as ever.

"Um…so I see you didn't bring much with you here," I began when we got there, noticing that Fang hadn't brought anything other than himself here, "but that's okay. You can borrow Iggy's clothes until we can get you your own. Iggy- he's our neighbor. You can probably meet him tomorrow. Iggy always comes over every morning so that he and I could walk to school together. You'll like him- he's nice and all, but has this weird obsession with making bombs." I stopped, realizing that I was beginning to ramble on a bit.

"You should probably get some sleep now. 'Night Fang," I said.

Just before I reached the stairs, I heard the word " 'night" being said in a voice so faint I wasn't sure if it was said at all. Then I heard Fang's door quietly close.

Smiling faintly to myself, I continued on my way up the stairs.

The following morning, I stumbled down the stairs to be met with an extremely strange sight.

_Mom_ was sitting at the kitchen island in her robe, sipping some coffee and flipping through a magazine. _Mom_- and not some sticky note saying that she's gone off to the precinct again.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Oh, good morning, Max," Mom said cheerily, as though it were perfectly normal for her to be hanging out in the kitchen, rather than staring down at some suspect in an interrogation room.

Under other circumstances, yes, this kind of scene would be normal. But, as it happens, we are _not _under other circumstances, unless we have all been beamed to an alternate universe while we were asleep last night.

"Mom, why aren't you down at the precinct?" I said.

"Captain of the precinct called earlier to tell me to take half the day off to see how Fang is settling in and all," Mom said.

"But its mostly to see if Fang feels up to going into interrogation," Mom finished, with a troubled look on her face. Obviously, she doesn't seem too pleased about Fang being questioned so soon after everything yesterday, but yep, it just had to be done.

"Oh," was all I could say.

Just then, Iggy came sauntering into the kitchen, having unlocked the door again.

"Iggy! How did you get in, sweetie?" Mom asked, confused.

Yep. We haven't exactly ever told Mom that Iggy could pick locks, otherwise she'd go nut and put chains all over the door or something, thinking that if "harmless" (that's her choice of words) Iggy could pick our lock, _anyone_ could pick our lock.

Mom's crazy like that sometimes.

"Uh, hey Ms. Martinez. Max gave me a spare key, so that's how I usually get into the house," Iggy said easily.

"We're kind of running late today, so see you later, Mom," I said, tossing a granola bar into my bag.

"But we're not-" Iggy began, confused. I shot him a look.

"_Oh_. Never mind. I guess we are running a bit late. I should get my watch fixed sometime," Iggy said, glancing at his wrist, which, in truth, had no watch whatsoever on it.

I rolled my eyes, then pulled him out the front door.

"Soooo…what's up with your mom staying home today? Did the precinct finally declare that she was a work addict and tried to send her into rehab by making her stay home? And what was being late all about?" Iggy questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Iggy, promise me that you won't tell _anyone_ about what I'm going to tell you," I said.

Iggy looked confused.

"Um…okay, I promise. I guess…"

Then, I held out my fist, waiting for him to stack his own on top of mine.

"Wow, that serious, huh?" Iggy murmured as he put his fist on top of mine. Once we tapped the back of each other's hand, hence completing our version of a pinky promise, I began telling Iggy about Fang.

-Meanwhile-

Valencia shook her head as she watched Max and Iggy continue down the sidewalk. She supposed Iggy had a right to know about Fang, but will he keep the story a secret is the question. As harmless as Iggy is, Valencia also knew that gossip is very tempting.

Yep, if you were wondering, Valencia _had_ figured out that Max wanted to tell Iggy about Fang. After all she _was_ a detective.

Valencia sighed. Speaking of being a detective… Ever since she had woken up that morning, the thought of having to bring Fang into interrogation bothered her. Sure, she was pretty professional when it came to her career, but the kid's parents were just brutally murdered yesterday, for heaven's sake! How could Valencia expect Fang to talk about it so soon?

Still, she has to do what has to be done. Sighing again, Valencia stood and shuffled towards Fang's room.

Once at his door, Valencia hesitated.

Then she knocked lightly on the door.

"Fang?" she called.

For a second the door remained closed.

Then, it slowly opened.

**A/N: Dang! I didn't expect so many reviews… :D**

**Thank you ****so**** much to everyone who commented! I love you guys! ^.^**

**I admit this was kind of a filler chapter, but I hope it you liked it!**

**Keep reading and**

**REVIEW! :)**

**(P.S. I don't own Maximum Ride :( …Forgot to say that earlier.)**


	3. Chapter 3

_-Previously-_

_Still, she has to do what has to be done. Sighing again, Valencia stood and shuffled towards Fang's room._

_Once at his door, Valencia hesitated._

_Then, she knocked lightly on the door._

"_Fang?" she called._

_For a second, the door remained closed._

_Then, it slowly opened._

Fang appeared in the doorway, silent and emotionless as ever. Upon seeing Valencia, he edged back a little, suspicion flaring up slightly in his dark eyes.

"Um…good morning, Fang. Did you sleep okay, sweetie?" Valencia asked, mentally hitting herself for asking that when she noticed the dark circles under Fang's eyes and how he clung to one side of the door frame as though to keep from falling over from exhaustion.

Fang shrugged in reply.

"Oh…okay. As I'm sure you know, there are investigators who have questions about yesterday's…_happenings_," Valencia began tentatively, knowing that she was skating in thin ice here.

Fang just stared blankly at her. No reaction. Nothing.

"So if you're feeling alright, do you mind me taking you to answer those investigator's questions?" Valencia asked cautiously.

Fang shrugged again, but this time, Valencia could see the tenseness in his shoulders and how his gaze broke away from her.

_Maybe I shouldn't have asked that too soon_ she thought.

"Still, it's perfectly fine if you don't feel like being questioned, Fang. The other detectives and I will understand. But if you do choose to go, I'm sure it'll only be a few questions that won't be too difficult to answer... Either way, it's your choice. Whatever you choose, I'll stand by it," Valencia assured Fang.

A few moments of heavy silence passed before Fang whispered hesitantly, "I-I'll go."

Valencia could sense the astonishment crossing her expression.

For one, ever since she and Jeb had brought Fang from the crime scene to the hospital to here, he hadn't said a single word as far as she knew. And secondly, he just said _what_?

"Are you sure Fang? We don't want you to feel pressured to answer questions so soon, but if you're willing to go…"she trailed off.

"I-I'm sure," he mumbled.

"Okay then. But first, I need to freshen up a bit. And besides, you need breakfast too. Anything from the fridge that you want, feel free to take. Cereal is in the cupboard next to the stove and the bread's near the toaster. And Fang? _Thank you_." Valencia said.

Once they reached the precinct, Valencia found Detective Hans waiting at her desk. Her brows furrowed.

"Ah, there you are Martinez," Hans said pompously.

"Fang? Why don't you go and take a seat in there?" Valencia said, pointing towards the interrogation room.

After Fang had left, Valencia said, "Did you need something Hans?"

"Yes- to tell you that Captain told me to take over this interrogation with Nick," Hans announced smugly.

"You? But I called Jeb right before Fang and I left…Jeb offered to do the questioning. And the kid goes by Fang, not Nick," she said, knowing that this new arrangement will change everything.

"_Fang_ is a downright preposterous and idiotic name-even saying it sickens me," Hans declared. "And as for who's interrogating, once I talked to Captain of the precinct, he agreed that Batchelder might not be the best choice. Too _compassionate_. For heaven's sake, the man was dithering over the fact that it's too soon to start quizzing Nick when he _should_ have been thinking that if Nick's memory of the murder is still raw, it may be easier to get information from Nick, given the state of mind he'll probably be in. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an interrogation to do, but you can watch behind the two- way mirror with Batchelder." With that, Hans marched away, leaving Valencia to seethe as she stalked over to the observation room Jeb was said to be in.

Jeb shot her an apologetic look as she joined him. "Sorry, Val. Captain's orders."

"I get it," she replied, "It's just how Fang will take to Hans that I'm pretty worried about…"

Without another word, both of them turned towards the mirror and began watching intensely as the questioning started.

-In the Interrogation Room-

"Nick, where were you yesterday between the hours of 10 and 11 PM?" Detective Hans asked promptly.

"I-I was h-home," Fang whispered, staring down at the white table in front of him.

"Alone? Or were you with your parents? Tell me what happened last night." Hans said brusquely.

"My p-pa-parents were h-home with-"

"Look up at me when you speak, Nick," Hans cut in, looking irritated at the boy.

Reluctantly, Fang gazed up at Hans through his bangs. From behind the mirror, Valencia could see the vulnerability etched in his eyes, underlined by a hint of anger- part of it probably directed at Hans, she presumed.

"Now you were saying that your parents were home with you. Did anything seem out of the ordinary?" Hans pressed.

"O-out of the ordinary?" Fang asked, confused.

"Yes, out of the ordinary. Did your parents seem paranoid lately- things like that. When we came to the scene, we noticed signs of intrusion. Did you see or hear anyone trying to break into the house?" Hans said rather impatiently.

"I-I heard a crashing sound coming f-from the living room a-and then s-sc-screaming. I ran down the stairs and f-found my p-par- _them_ yelling a-at this man in a lab coat." Fang stuttered out.

"And?" Hans asked, seeming interested at last.

"W-when they saw me, t-they t-told-"

"Who's 'they'? Your parents?" Hans questioned.

Fang flinched slightly, then nodded.

"T-they told me t-to r-run, b-but I-I didn't want t-to leave them. S-suddenly t-the man in the l-lab coat c-came towards m-me a-and asked if I r-remembered him," he said.

"Do you think you can describe him for me?" Hans leaned forward eagerly.

"N-no. I-I can't"

Hans frowned. "Why not?"

"I-I don't remember how h-he looked like," Fang said, choosing to stare down at the table again.

"Really? Hmm...are you sure about that Nick?" Hans said, eyeing Fang closely.

Fang simply nodded, still not meeting Hans's gaze.

"Well, isn't that troublesome… Now tell me, Nick, does _this_ jog your memory?" Detective Hans asked as he opened the file of photos from yesterday's murder and slapped them down in front of Fang.

Fang froze. His eyes widened.

At that second, Valencia burst into the room, followed closely by Jeb.

"Hans! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Valencia shouted, glaring furiously at said detective.

"I think I'm conducting an interrogation here," Hans said self- righteously.

"He told you everything he has to tell. You have that information now. So _leave_," Valencia said darkly.

"He hasn't told _everything_…" Hans hissed as he stormed out the door, slamming it as he went.

"Fang?" Valencia asked softly, finally turning to Fang, who still sat staring at the gruesome photos of his slaughtered parents.

"I-I-I…n-need a-a-air. I-I j-just…," Fang whispered as he shakily pushed himself away from the table and headed towards the door.

"Now Fang, _calm down_." Jeb said as he caught Fang's shoulder.

"I-I'm fine," he muttered, "J-just let go of me."

"Fang, I need you to sit down and-" Valencia began.

"No! I told you I'm fine! Just…just leave me alone!" Fang shouted suddenly, near hysteria as he tried feverishly to pull himself away from Jeb's solid grasp.

"Sorry that I have to do this, Fang," Jeb said as he hit a nerve point along Fang's neck.

Before Fang had a chance to say anything else, his vision suddenly became hazy and in the next second, all was black.

Jeb sighed as he turned to Valencia while holding an unconscious Fang in his arms.

"I'll carry him to your car," he said quietly.

"Right," Valencia said, her voice sounding as though it were drained of energy.

Together they silently walked past the staring precinct and out into the desolate parking lot.

"I should have interrupted the questioning earlier," Valencia mumbled as she helped Jeb put Fang down in the back seat of her car.

"Come on, Val. We had no way of knowing that Hans was gonna do that to him. Anyway, it's too late to change anything now," Jeb sighed, regret and sorrow filling his gaze as he and Valencia glanced down once more at Fang.

-Meanwhile-

"You know, Max, I can always skip it. I mean, sure, it's a pyrotechnic convention and all, but at the same time, I really do want to meet Fang," Iggy said as we walked home later that day.

"For the last time, Iggy, _go_. You've been talking about that convention ever since you found out about it last summer. And besides, you can always meet Fang on another day," I urged him as I kicked a pebble along the way.

"But still..."

"Anyways, there's Gazzy too. Remember how hyped up he got when you told him about the convention? He's probably gonna blow a stinkbomb up in your face for suddenly telling him that you guys aren't going after all," I continued.

"Hmm… Maybe you're right. But keep in mind that the grasshopper can't outsmart his sensei so soon," Iggy said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, try telling Gazzy that," I said as I walked up to the front door of my house.

"I will," Iggy called over to me as he climbed up his porch steps next door.

I shook my head at him as I took out my key from my pocket and let myself into the house.

"Mom?" I called out, wondering if she was home.

"Max, you're home early, sweetie," Mom said as she appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"This is the same time I usually get home everyday," I told her.

"Oh," she blinked.

"So how did the interrogation go?" I asked Mom.

Mom put a hand to her forehead as though a headache had sprung up out of the blue.

"Ugh… it was like watching a train wreck fall off a cliff and explode into flames," Mom said while dropping into a chair by the dinner table.

"That bad? What happened? Where's Fang now?"

"Apparently, Fang wasn't too comfortable with telling Detective Hans everything, so Hans chose to 'jog Fang's memory' by showing him photos of the murder. Jeb had to _knock_ Fang _out_ because he got extremely upset…and he's supposed to be awake a few hours ago, but ever since we put him in his room, he hasn't come out yet," Mom said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Look," she said, "I have to get back to the precinct to help out with the investigation and all, so will you be okay for the rest of the day Max?"

"Yeah," I said, even though there wasn't really any point in saying so, seeing that Mom was already up and pulling on her coat.

After Mom was gone, I found myself edging down the hallway that led to Fang's room.

I tapped on the door. Silence.

I tried the doorknob, hesitating when it turned.

I glanced around the door.

Fang was curled up in the middle of the bed, fast asleep. Quietly, I crossed the room and opened the closet, pulling out a blanket.

It wasn't until I leaned close to Fang to carefully drape the blanket over his sleeping form that I noticed the faintly glistening tear streaks on his face.

**A/N: Bleh…I kind of came down with a case of writer's block while writing this, so I hope it wasn't too terrible XD **

**Anyways, 18-5-22-9-5-23! **

**(It's written in code, but I bet you all know what it says ;)**


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